Monday, February 2, 2015

Mantiklos

Form: This nude figure of an idealized young man is made of solid
bronze using cire perdue. The sculpture is said to be orientalized in
appearance because it looks similar to Persian or Assyrian designs from
the same period. Note the hair and the brow and how similar these look
to the sculptures from Tell Asmar. The rendering of the anatomy is
still based on geometric forms such as triangles and squares and
elements, such as the neck and the facial features are distorted,
however, this sculpture is still very naturalistic. On Apollo’s leg is
an inscription "Mantiklos dedicated me as tithe to the far- shooting
Lord of the Silver Bow; you, Phoibos (Apollo), might give some pleasing
favor in return." (Translation quoted from Gardner's) Perhaps the
sculpture originally had gems placed in the eye sockets.

Iconography: This sculpture demonstrates the desire of the Greek artist
to move towards a more naturalistic or realistic style. The figure's
body is the idealized and perfect looking youth figure that will later
on be referred to as a kouros figure. Naturalism and specifically
depicting the male human form accurately is linked to the fact that the
Greek gods look human. Man for the Greeks was created in their gods'
image and therefore it is almost a form of representing the divine if
the work is naturalistic

The figure is also beautiful and this is an
icon of goodness for the Greeks. In Greek epic poetry the hero is
always described as handsome or beautiful and their physical appearance
is a reflection of the character's virtue. The idealism or beauty of
the Greek figure is linked to the concept that you can judge a book by
its cover. The Greek term for beauty is kalos (calos). The term kalos
can also be interchanged with and is synonymous with goodness.
Therefore, to call someone or something beautiful also means that that thing is also "good."

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I used to be a tenured professor of art history and studio art at Ohlone College in Fremont but in 2016 I decided to resign/retire to make art full time. I still "teach" on line and you can sign up for my art marketing and art history courses here: